THE METHOD

1

Wash the fish and pat them dry with a tissue. Lay them on a board (I used the reverse side of Masonite because it was the only thing I could find in the shed). Stand and look at them. Take time to observe them. They have fins on top, below and at their sides. They have beautiful eyes and wonderful skin, a perfect tail, mouth and shape. Everything about them is perfect. They are a genetic and engineering wonder.

2

You must be prepared to waste the rice paper before you work out just how much paint to put on the fish. If it is too wet, you will just print big blobs and no details. The paint or ink should be just sticky and not runny. The best results are obtained with the inks. I painted the fish with a hake brush. You can use several fish at once but I used just one and repainted and repositioned it to represent every fish in the final painting.

3

The rice paper is laid carefully on top of the painted fish and you gently press and mould the paper down over and along the fish. When you are satisfied that you have covered it all, pushing the paper very gently around the fish right down to the board, the paper is gently lifted off. The fish can be painted again and the clean part of the paper repositioned and laid down again.

4

Be prepared to waste a lot of paper because one fish might work well and another on the same paper may become blotted. There is a lot of luck with gyotaku painting as well as a lot of skill.

5

Practice – you will find what works in terms of the strength of paint or ink you use on the fish to start with. You will make a mess at first but will quickly work out what not to do.

6

When the painting is dry you can add enhancing details with small brushes and small bristle fan brushes. For example, exaggerate the fins, eyes, mouth and tail. Paint on more scales or add seaweed to your painting.

7

Remember that a traditional gyotaku fish print can be turned into a modern gyotaku fish painting by adding to it what you want. I exaggerated the fins with a small bristle fan brush, painted in the eyes and added seaweed.

8

A trick for solving the problem of ‘where on earth do I put the seaweed?’ is to place a sheet of transparent plastic (cling wrap) over the painting, paint on the plastic and move the plastic around to see where your seaweed looks best. Otherwise just go for it.

9

The zen art of maximum impact with minimal brushstroke still applies to gyotaku fish art and, subsequently, any additional brushstrokes should be kept to a minimum or the whole impact will be lost.

10

Your finished rice paper painting can be left as it is and mounted and framed, wrinkles and all. I would not advise ironing it or tampering with it. Once it’s ruined it can never be undone. I have watched Chinese expert framers in Dalian and their method of flattening and mounting rice paper paintings is a complete art form in itself and best left to these experts.